The Life and Times of the Doctor
by Jess-Emrys-BLack
Summary: "No idea where here is, or how, but I do believe I have an idea as to why," "I think we're here to watch something," A strange room in an unknown place, and a screen that seems to show the future life of their Doctor, what's there to do but to watch and see. A watching the show fic.
1. Chapter 1

**The Life and Times of the Doctor**

Potential spoilers : ) for anyone not up-to-date

A/N: Okay, so I thought I'd give the whole characters watching the show thing a try, I'm a little worried about keeping people in character as I've never written the Doctor Who characters before, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone so I thought I'd give it a shot : ) Please be gentle on me, but feel free to offer any helping advise and/or just let me know how you think it turned out : )

On another note, two warnings or rather three if you count the potentially badly written characters…, anyway, here's a warning that updates will be sporadic, and long waits may apply, though I have already finished the next two chapters mostly, so there's that; and secondly, or thirdly, I will likely, in fact almost certainly be skipping a few episodes here and there, so sorry if I skip one you really wanted to see, though if you let me know I am thinking about having some of them watch past episodes in the 'downtime' they get so if there is one you really want to see let me know what, why and whom you would like to see watching it : )Umm, also there will be others appearing throughout the series. Oh and fourth warning I guess, sorry for Clara lovers but she probably won't be in it at all, or at least she wont appear in the room or umm she definitely will not be romantically involved with the Doctor that is a certainty as I believe in 11Doctor/River and that alone; though 9 and 10 are definitely Roses'

Parings: (10thDoctorDuplicate)John Smith/Rose Tyler, 11thDoctor/River, Amy/Rory, some Mickey/Martha

Disclaimer: I do not own the Doctor Who franchise or any such things, I am not earning money from these writings and do not own the characters or transcripts (nor claim they are 100% correct), umm, I think that's all...

Alright that's certainly enough rambling so on with the story!

**Chapter One: Journey's End**

There was a flash of light and suddenly a room that had previously been empty of any occupants was filled with the gasping bodies of a number of people, and not just any people either.

"Rose?!" a man said suddenly as he shot to his feet looking at a girl with blond hair who had appeared on the floor beside him.

"Ah… Jack! What happened? Where are we and why?" the girl, Rose asked as she accepted his hand to help her up.

"Something to do with the Doctor I'd say, must be considering who's here," one Mickey Smith commented as he got to his feet helping Martha Jones up too.

"He can't have gotten himself in trouble again yet, can he, I mean we literally just left him," Martha said in confusion.

"But he dropped me off in the parallel universe and it was sealed shut, I shouldn't be able to be here with you, this should be impossible!" Rose exclaimed confused.

"Yes it should be," came a familiar voice to them all, causing them to spin around to see the man who'd spoken looking curiously at a large screen that looked very much like a giant flat-screen T.V.

"Doctor!" Jack was the first to get over the surprise, "Doc what's going on?"

The 'Doctor' turned to look at them with a faint frown before smiling slightly, "No idea, and you probably better call me John, John Smith seeing as I'm human," the one they thought was the Doctor replied, "I was with Rose, just sealed together in Pete's-world by my Time Lord counterpart when flash here we are!" he explained smiling at them, "No idea where here is, or how, but I do believe I have an idea as to why," he continued glancing back at the screen.

"What is it them?" Mickey asked frowning at him.

"I think we're here to watch something," he said as he quickly walked over to them taking Roses hand with a smile that was quickly returned, "Shall we sit?" he said motioning to the comfortable looking couches that were located in front of the screen.

Exchanging looks they all complied none of them having any other clue as to what to do, so Rose, John and Jack sat on one of the couches and Martha and Mickey sat on the other, and the moment they had all sat down the screen turned on showing an image of them all on the TARDIS along with Sarah Jane, Donna, Jackie, and the Doctor; just as they had been, exactly as they had been, just hours before. And then the screen started playing showing those last moments of them flying the TARDIS together as they toed the Earth back where it belonged. They exchanged confused and worried looks before watching silently as the Doctor bid farewell to Sarah Jane, and then to Martha, Jack and Mickey, causing sad smiles to pass their lips as they watched themselves farewell the Doctor, which turned to intrigued looks as they watched the part they had no memory of.

They all watched as he dropped Jackie, John and Rose off at in the parallel universe, and John squeezed Roses hand as tears formed in her eyes as she watched the Doctor, her Doctor leave then, because sure she now had John a human version of himself who loved her, and she was happy with John, though it might take some adjusting, but what of the Doctor?

They watch with wide sad eyes as Donnas mind became overwhelmed by the Time Lords knowledge; watched with tears in their eyes as she begged the Doctor not to save her, not to wipe the memories of him from her mind, and they sympathized for none of them could ever imagine the horror of deleting the Doctor and everything they had become through him and going back to the tiny lives they'd led before meeting him, sure the time they'd had with the Doctor may not have always been perfect, and sure most of them had chosen to end that time just recently, but being with him had opened their eyes, had changed them in ways they would never ever dream of reversing because they knew despite everything that they were better for knowing him.

They watched in deep sadness as the Doctor returned Donna home and explained everything to her mother and Grandfather, and as they watched their hearts broke for both Donna and for the Doctor who was once again alone. John squeezed his eyes shut and held Rose closer grieving for Donna his best friend and for his other self who had once again lost everything, and suddenly he was so very glad he was no longer the Doctor because he had Rose and they had a full life together just waiting for them.

"Oh god, we all just left him," Martha whimpered slightly tears leaking from her eyes as the screen turned to what suspiciously looked like a DVD menu screen.

She, they, couldn't imagine what the Doctor was going through at that moment. He had just lost his best friend and now he would have to deal with that on his own because none of his other friends had wanted to stay with him! I mean sure they hadn't known what was happening to Donna or that he'd be left alone, but that didn't change that he was and that all his friends had chosen to go on with their live without him.

"If he had of asked…" Martha started to say, but John shook his head and interrupted her.

"He never would," he said softly and they all knew that was true.

Mickey pulled Martha into his arms in a comforting hug as she sobbed into his chest, tears clearly visible in his own eyes, and on the other couch Rose had buried her head in Johns chest sobbing as he held her tight to him tears in his own eyes for Donna and his counterpart, and Jack squeezed her shoulders comfortingly even as a few tears rolled down his cheek.

"It's not fair," Rose sobbed after a moment, "It's not fair that he's on his own and we're all here together!" It wasn't fair that he always seemed to end up alone.

Eventually they all calmed down and the tears passed, Martha pulled away from Mickey offering him an appreciative, apologetic and awkward smile which he returned with an understanding smile and a nod before they looked away from each other and glanced over at the others before focusing back on the screen.

Rose also stopped crying but stayed leaning against John who kept his arms around her, though he loosened his grip, and instead merely turned her head so that she could see the screen; and Jack squeezed her shoulder one last time before also focusing back on the screen.

"So what now?" Mickey asked but as soon as the words left his mouth the screen showed to be slowly scrolling down a list.

"'The Next Doctor', 'Planet of the Dead', 'The Waters of Mars', 'The End of Time Part 1'" Jack read them as the screen stopped scrolling at the last one, exchanging confused and intrigued looks they all focused forward as the screen seemed to select the 'episode'.


	2. Chapter Two: The End of Time Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Doctor Who franchise or any such things, I am not earning money from these writings and do not own the characters or transcripts (nor claim they are 100% correct), umm, I think that's all...

Potential spoilers for up until the 50th anniversary special

**Parings:** (10thDoctorDuplicate)John Smith/Rose Tyler, 11thDoctor/River, Amy/Rory, some Mickey/Martha, those are the definite pairs but there is also the possibility I'll be making this into a Jack/11thDoctor/River pair too, though still not full decided yet…

Oh another change of mind, Clara probably will make an appearance at some point, though I'll say again, she will definitely not be romantically paired with the Doctor, they'll just be close friends.

So on with the chapter, and please, please review or I will think no one likes this and then end up keeping it to myself…

…

**Chapter Two: The End of Time Part 1**

_ "So what now?" Mickey asked but as soon as the words left his mouth the screen showed to be slowly scrolling down a list._

_ "'The Next Doctor', 'Planet of the Dead', 'The Waters of Mars', 'The End of Time Part 1'" Jack read them as the screen stopped scrolling at the last one, exchanging confused and intrigued looks they all focused forward as the screen seemed to select the 'episode'._

They watched as the screen showed an image of Space slowly zooming in towards Earthand then a voice, familiar only to John who tensed slightly, began to speak.

"**It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams. To the west of the north of that world, the human race did gather, in the celebration of a pagan rite to banish the cold and the dark. Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot, because they must. They forgot their nightmares of fire and war and insanity. They forgot. Except for one."**

**The screen focuses in on Wilf who hears an evil laugh in his head  
MASTER: Bwahahahahahaha!**

"NO!" Martha and Jack cry out at the same time and the screen freezes, "It can't be!"

"But he's, he's dead!" Martha cries in fear as she shoots a pleading look towards Jack and John, who really is pretty much the Doctor only with one heart, "He's dead isn't he Doc-John?! I mean he chose not to regenerate so that's it, he can't be back right?!" she begged him, but John stayed frozen as he had been since the voiceover had first sounded, his eyes wide and dark.

"Doc? Doc, what's happening?" Jack asked him quickly, he was very not happy and more than a little worried to see the Master but was becoming equally if not more worried about his now human friends reaction to what was happening, but like Martha he got no response.

Rose exchanged a confused and worried look with Mickey, neither of them knew what was happening but it clearly couldn't be good, "Doctor? John?" Rose asked softly placing her hand on his cheek and looking at him in concern, "John, what's the matter, what's happening?" she asked him softly.

"And what's Donna's grandfather got to do with it?" Mickey added more as an aside, not really expecting an answer.

Slowly John turned to look at Rose his face a mask of a number of emotions, Shock, confusion and _fear,_ being very prominent, "I… I don't… I don't know, I mean I…" he shook his head and closed his eyes pulling Rose close to him and burying his face in her hair.

Roses eyes darted to Jacks in alarm as she felt John began to tremble slightly in her arms, so Jack felt that a little seating adjustment needed to be made. Getting up he moved the, slightly alarmingly unresponsive, John so that he now sat curled up safely between himself and Rose, in a position they could both offer him comfort. Once settled he glanced over at Mickey and Martha to see how they were doing and was glad to see small amused, though worried smiles on their faces at the first couches new positioning, though Martha's eyes still held more than slight fear, there was nothing he could do for that unfortunately, as he shared it too.

"Right...er, well I guess we'll just have to watch to find out huh?" Mickey said after a moment and reluctantly the others nodded and turned back to the screen, well all save for John.

**Wilf goes inside the nearest church, where a choir is rehearsing. He notices a strange blue rectangle in the stained glass window above the altar. **

They all smile slightly at that.

**A woman dressed in a white suit makes him jump.  
WOMAN: They call it the Legend of the Blue Box.  
WILF: Oh. I've never been in here before. I'm not one for churches. Too cold.  
WOMAN: This was the site of a convent back in the thirteen hundreds. It's said a demon fell from the sky, then a man appeared. A man in a blue box. They called him the sainted physician. He smote the demon and then disappeared. **

Another smile this one slightly larger appears on their faces, they could see him now, the Doctor never really changes.

**WILF: That's a bit of a coincidence.  
WOMAN: It's said there's no such thing as coincidence. Who knows? Perhaps he's coming back.  
WILF: Oh, that would make my Christmas.  
The woman has disappeared. Wilf hears the laughter again.  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!**

"Okay that's creepy," Mickey muttered and they all agreed completely, and then couldn't help but grin as the familiar sound of the TARDIS came as the screen changed to a wintery mountainous landscape, even John couldn't resist that sound and so he raised his head, frowning slightly at Jack for the change of positioning which Jack returned with a cheeky grin before focusing back on the screen.

**The Tardis materialises in the snowy landscape, and the Doctor steps out wearing a Stetson and a lei. Ood Sigma is waiting for him.**

"Oh the Ood sphere, wonder what I'm doing there?"

"More what are you wearing?" Rose asked giggling slightly and the rest grinned more than a little relived that the Doctor appeared to be faring better then was last shown on the screen, though they knew that it was likely he was just masking his hurt; they also hoped they'd see a human companion exit the TARDIS behind him, unfortunately no one did.

**DOCTOR: Ah! Now, sorry. There you are. So, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? An Ood in the snow, calling to me. Well, I didn't exactly come straight here. Had a bit of fun, you know. Travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble. You know me. It was brilliant. I saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, named a galaxy Alison. Got married. That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. And let me tell you, her nickname is no longer. Ahem. Anyway, what do you want? **

Jack couldn't seem to take it anymore and burst out laughing breaking the remaining tension in the room, for a moment at least, "Oh Doc, you are brilliant!" he grinned throwing an arm around Johns shoulders and pulling him into a half hug/squeeze

"Oi stop it!" John pouted slightly frowning at the amused looks everyone was sending him, though internally he was pleased that everyone seemed a bit happier now, "besides, that's not really me anymore, I mean now we're two completely different people!"

"You better be," Rose warned him sternly though humour danced in her eyes.

"Aw Rose, he said it was a mistake," Jack said ginning in amusement at the two of them who in sync turned and told him to 'shut up Jack!' causing him to laugh again.

**SIGMA: You should not have delayed.  
DOCTOR: The last time I was here you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that. **

"What!" Rose and Martha cried looking at him in shock and concern, Mickey and Jack also frowned at him in concern.

"Oh don't worry so much," John said though internally he was also worried for his counterpart, but he knew neither of them would want their friends to worry about them.

"Doctor," Rose groaned and the others all sighed knowing him well enough that he wouldn't want their worry, besides the one with them here wasn't the one they had to be concerned about; still they looked at the screen nervously especially Martha and Jack whose minds jumped back to the Master.

**SIGMA: You will come with me.  
DOCTOR: Hold on. Better lock the Tardis.  
The Doctor points a remote key at the Tardis. The door locks and the light flashes at it beeps.  
DOCTOR: See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like. It's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh. **

They all snickered slightly at that.

**DOCTOR: So how old are you now, Ood Sigma? Ah.  
He sees the Ood city.**

They smiled, even though it was just on the screen they couldn't help but feel some of that excitement they all always felt at seeing an alien world, especially with the Doctor there.

**DOCTOR: Magnificent. Oh, come on, that is splendid. You've achieved all this in how long?  
SIGMA: One hundred years.  
DOCTOR: Then we've got a problem. Because all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call me. Reaching all the way back to the twenty first century. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal.  
SIGMA: And the Mind of the Ood is troubled.  
DOCTOR: Why, what's happened?  
SIGMA: Every night, Doctor, every night we have bad dreams.**

"You know, travel with you would be much easier with background music," Mickey spoke up randomly, hoping to break the slowly growing tension the room was regaining, "I mean it would be a handy hint as to when to expect trouble at least,"

Jack snorted, "Mickey Mouse, when travelling with the Doctor you should always expect trouble, I mean that's where the most fun comes from!"

"Oh shush you two," Martha said though a small smile on her face said she didn't disagree with what either of them said.

**The ****Ood Council**** sitting in a circle in an ice cave.  
ELDER: Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come. **

John stiffened again holding tighter to Roses hand.

"Doc?" Jack questioned him slowly, seeing the dark calculating look in his old friends' eyes, but John just shook his head not saying anything.

**SIGMA: Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming.  
DOCTOR: So. Right. Hallo.  
OOD: You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join.  
The Doctor links hands with the Ood and sees the laughing face.  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!  
ELDER: He comes to us every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now.  
DOCTOR: That man is dead.  
ELDER: There is yet more. Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha! **

**[Nobles' home]**

**ELDER [OC]: So scared.  
DOCTOR: Wilfred. Is he all right? **

**[Ood Council]**

**DOCTOR: What about Donna, is she safe?  
ELDER: You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his Counting house.  
The Doctor is given images of a black man and his daughter being photographed.  
DOCTOR: I don't know who they are.  
ELDER: And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten.  
A woman in a cage.  
DOCTOR: The Master's wife.  
SIGMA: We see so much, but understand little. The woman in the cage, who is she?  
DOCTOR: She was. It wasn't her fault, she was. The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you.  
The Doctor shows the Ood images from Last of the Time Lords.  
DOCTOR: The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done so it never even happened, but Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body. The Master is dead.  
ELDER: And yet, you did not see.  
DOCTOR: What's that?  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!  
A woman picking up the Master's signet ring.  
DOCTOR: Part of him survived. I have to go!  
ELDER: But something more is happening, Doctor. The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past.  
DOCTOR: What do you mean?  
ELDER: This is what we have seen, Doctor. The darkness heralds only one thing.  
OOD: The end of time itself.  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!  
The Doctor runs outside and back to the Tardis.  
ELDER: Events that have happened are happening now. **

They all sat there in silence, none of them wanted to interrupt, because while they didn't really _want_ to know, they knew they needed to. So they just sat and watched, Martha taking Mickeys hand who squeezed it in comfort, and Rose and Jack hugging close to John both for their own comfort and his, for this truly did not sound good at all.

**While the Tardis is in flight, Lucy Saxon is taken from her cell and escorted by women Prison Officers. to meet another woman.  
GOVERNOR: Mrs Saxon. Let me introduce myself. I'm your new Governor. I'm afraid the previous Governor met with something of an accident, which took quite some time to arrange. Miss Trefusis, if you will prepare. You kept your silence well, Mrs Saxon. Your trial was held in secret, with no jury, so no one knows who Harold Saxon was, where he came from, why you killed him. Make her kneel. There are those of us who never lost faith. And in his wisdom, Harold Saxon prepared for this moment. He knew that he might die and he made us ready. Tonight, Mrs Saxon, he returns.  
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!  
Miss Trefusis holds out the Master's signet ring. Lucy gasps. **

"No," Martha moans out tears in her eyes as she squeezes Mickeys hand tighter, "they can't,"

Jacks eyes tighten and he grimaces holding tighter to John who doesn't protest at all and in fact takes one of Jacks hands in his to squeeze it reassuringly, his other holding Roses.

**Meanwhile, Wilf is looking out at the kitchen window at the storm while the Woman in White briefly appears on the TV screen in the other room. **

"Who is that woman? And what does she and Wilfred have to do with this?" Rose questions softly, but John just shacks his head, either he didn't know or he didn't want to say, either way they weren't going to get answers from him obviously.

**GOVERNOR: As it was written in the Secret Books of Saxon, these are the Potions of Life.  
The signet ring is put into a bowl and blue liquids are poured over it.  
LUCY: Listen to me. Whatever he told you, you've got no idea what you're doing.  
GOVERNOR: Miss Trefusis, the catalyst.  
LUCY: What are you doing? Leave me alone!  
Miss Trefusis takes a print of Lucy's lips.  
GOVERNOR: You were Saxon's wife. You bore his imprint. That's all we needed. The final biometrical signature.  
LUCY: You can't bring him back. You can't! **

"Please, please listen to her," Martha begged softly

**Miss Trefusis drops the imprint into the bowl and there is a big flash, then a light beams up and out of Broadfell Prison into the sky.  
LUCY: I'm begging you! Stop this now before it's too late!  
GOVERNOR: We give ourselves that Saxon might live.  
Energy is pulled out of the Governor and her acolytes.  
LUCY: Can't you see? He lied to you. His name isn't even Harold Saxon.  
GOVERNOR: And this was written also, for his name is the Master!  
The figure of the naked Master begins to appear in the column of light.  
MASTER: Never. Never. Never. Never. Never dying. Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Bwahahahahahaha! Oh, Lucy. Sweet Lucy Saxon. My ever faithful. Did the widow's kiss bring me back to life?  
LUCY: You're killing them!  
MASTER: Oh, let them die. They're just the first. The whole stupid, stinking, human disgrace can fall into the pit. Can't you hear it, Lucy? The noise? The drumbeat louder than ever before. The drums. The never ending drums. Oh, I have missed them.  
LUCY: But no-one knew you better than I did. I knew you'd come back. And all this time, your disciples have prepared. But so have we.  
Lucy takes a small vial from a prison officer who was not an acolyte.  
MASTER: What are you doing?  
LUCY: The Secret Books of Saxon spoke of the Potions of Life. And I was never that bright, but my family had contacts. People who were clever enough to calculate the opposite.  
MASTER: Don't you dare. I'm ordering you, Lucy. You will obey me!  
LUCY: Till death do us part, Harry!  
MASTER: No!  
Lucy throws the vial at the Master and there is an explosion.  
The Doctor runs out of the Tardis to see the ruined shell of Broadfell Prison. **

They all breathed out slightly even though they knew that the bad was far from over.

**[Naismith's study]**

**A butler and two footmen are standing nearby as the black woman enters the panelled room. The black man is looking at footage on his laptop.  
NAISMITH: I think we might be in luck, darling. It's the footage from Broadfell Prison the night it burnt down. Take a look at this.  
A silhouette of a figure runs quickly across the flames.**

"Oh and I hoped he was blown up," Martha muttered though it was obvious that she wasn't surprised he was still around, still Jack couldn't help a smile at that comment

**ABIGAIL: Someone survived! Do you think it's him? Oh, that would be such a Christmas present.  
NAISMITH: You just leave it to Daddy. **

**[Gate room]**

**They walk into a room lit by a domed glass roof.  
NAISMITH: Ladies and gentlemen, it seems help is at hand. Christmas is cancelled. Prepare the gate.  
An archway begins to light up. **

"Damn why do I get a really, really, bad feeling about this," Jack muttered

"Because they think the Master surviving is a Christmas present?" Martha suggested

"Because they have a gate of very not good?" Rose put in

"Because they cancelled Christmas?" Mickey suggested

"And they're creepy in a very not good way," Rose added and Jack chuckled

"Yeah, all of those I guess," he grinned

**[Nobles' home]**

**WILF: Just going down to the Lion. Quick little snifter. Christmas drinks. All right, ta-da. **

**Wilf leaves the house and gets out his mobile phone and makes a call.  
WILF: Paratroop One to Paratroop Two. We are mobilised. I repeat, we are mobilised. Rendezvous thirteen hundred hours. Over and out.  
He flags down a Sparrow Lane minibus.  
WILF: Come on! Way hey, shake a leg! Yay hey. Right then, come on, let's get going.  
The driver and the other passengers applaud as he gets on board.  
WILF: Off we go. Everybody all right? Who's got the chocolates then? **

They all chuckled glad for the break in the tension.

"Oh good old Wilf," John muttered with a grin, "but what are you up to I wonder?"

**WILF: He's tall and thin, wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat. Modern sort of hair, all sticky-uppy, right? Oh, and on page two, be on the lookout for a police box exactly like the old ones. **

Jack chuckled, "looks like he's looking for you Doc, what with your sticky-uppy hair and all," he teased pulling gently at Johns hair.

"Oi! Cut it out, and leave my hair alone!" John cried slapping Jacks hand away and frowning at the others who were laughing, "What's wrong with my hair anyway? I mean it's not ginger but…"

"Oh Doc-John," Rose quickly corrected herself, "nothing's wrong with your hair, I like it just as it is, Jacks just teasing you ignore him," Rose said smiling up at him and running her hand through his hair which she did indeed love.

John grinned down at her happily and Jack chuckled at the lovebirds before they turned back to the screen.

**MINNIE: I got locked inside one of them. August Bank Holiday 1962.  
WINSTON: Were you misbehaving, Minnie?  
MINNIE: I certainly was. Way hey. **

Jack laughed, "Oh I wouldn't of minded meeting her back then," he smirked as John slapped his arm and told him to 'behave'.

**WILF: Yeah, all right, all right. Now listen, this is important. We have got to find it, right? So phone around. Phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge club? Right. Winston, you try the old boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered.  
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak.  
WILF: Yeah.  
WINSTON: Who is he, then, this Doctor?  
WILF: No, I can't tell you that. I swear. Yeah, but answer me this. Have you been having bad dreams? All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah. Well, that's why we need him. We need the Doctor more than ever. **

The mood dimmed a little at that and they all thought about how they had done something similar recently when they had needed the Doctor.

"Oh good old Wilf," John breathed out in soft fondness, even as his eyes dimmed slightly as he thought of the dream and what was happening, and what he thought might be connected to it.

**[Derelict site]**

**A piece of wood is burning in an old oil can. There is a pile of bricks in the foreground and a Steven's Point charity burger van is sitting just outside an abandoned warehouse.  
SARAH: Onions with that?  
TOMMO: Oh yeah, go on, pile them on. What about you, Ginger? Onions?  
Ginger shrugs.  
TOMMO: He don't say much. Give him onions. He's down from Huddersfield.  
A figure in a hoodie walks towards the van.  
SARAH: Well, you look after him. And don't forget tomorrow night. The Christmas broadcast. President Obama.  
TOMMO: Oh?  
SARAH: He's promised to end the recession. Bad times will soon be over, Ginger.  
TOMMO: Well, season's greetings to you.  
SARAH: And you. Happy Christmas.  
Tommo and Ginger walk away.  
SARAH: Now, what can we get you, sir?  
MASTER: Everything. I am so hungry. Bwahahahahahaha! **

Martha groaned slightly, "Oh I hate him," she says softly not really wanting John to hear her as she knows his feeling for the psychopath were mixed in a very complicated and emotional way.

**Tommo and Ginger are by the brazier, eating their food.  
TOMMO: They're saying that the Presidents got this grand plan. He's going to save the world with some big financial scheme. Whatever it is, I bet it won't reach you and me.  
The Master suddenly drops down from the sky and sits behind them.  
TOMMO: Oh! Somebody's lively on his feet.  
MASTER: Starving.  
The Master devours the burger far too rapidly for a human.**

"Freak," Mickey mutters lowly to Martha who smiles softly at him.

**TOMMO: Now, you see? That's what you don't want to do. Eat it all at once. Tempting, I know. But if you make it last, it can last all day.  
MASTER: Want more. Want cheese and chips, and meat and gravy, and cream and beer, and pork and beef and fat. Great big chunks of hot, wet red.  
TOMMO: Good for you, mate. Maybe we'd better be going.  
GINGER: You look like that bloke. Harold Saxon? The one that went mad.  
MASTER: Now isn't that funny. Isn't that just the best thing of all. The master of disguise, stuck looking like the old Prime Minister. I can't hide anywhere. He can see me. He can smell me. Can't let him smell me. Doctor, Doctor, shocked her, stopped her, got to stop the smell. The stink. The filthy, filthy stink. **

"You can _smell_ him?" Mickey asked with a raised eyebrow, but John just shrugged though his lips did twitch.

**TOMMO: Ginger, come with me. Right now.  
MASTER: Because it's funny. Don't you see? Look at me. I'm splitting my sides.  
The Master's skeleton suddenly appears and disappears several times.  
MASTER: I am hilarious. I am the funniest thing in the whole wide world.  
Tommo and Ginger run for the burger van.  
TOMMO: Sarah! God help us! There's this man!  
Sarah and her assistant in the van are just skeletons in clothes.  
MASTER: Dinnertime!  
The Master leaps up into the sky then swoops down on the two men. They scream, briefly. **

"Oh those poor people," Rose whispered sadly

**A little later, the Doctor stands on a small cliff and sniffs deeply. The Master does the same, then picks up an iron bar and starts hitting an oil drum in a rhythm of four beats and a rest. The Doctor hears it and runs through piles of girders on the dockside until he sees the Master up against the skyline. The Master does his Incredible Hulk impression then leaps into the air. The Doctor gives chase. The Master waits for him on a pile of girders, and his skeleton briefly flashes.  
DOCTOR: Please, let me help. You're burning up your own life force. **

"Doctor," Jack sighs and John looks away from him and Martha because he knows he would do the same thing; that he would always try to save his old friend if he could.

**They run again, then Wilf appears in the Doctor's way, with the rest of the Silver Cloak close behind.  
WILF: Oh, my gosh, Doctor. You're a sight for sore eyes.  
DOCTOR: Out of my way!  
But the Master is nowhere to be seen.  
WINSTON: Did we do it? Is that him?  
OLIVER: Tall and thin, big brown coat.  
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw this man heading east.  
DOCTOR: Wilfred?  
WILF: Yeah?  
DOCTOR: (sotto) Have you told them who I am? You promised me.  
WILF: No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honour to see you again.  
Wilf salutes.  
MINNIE: Oh, but you never said he was a looker. He's gorgeous. Take a photo.  
OLIVER: Not bad, eh? Me next. **

"Oh Doctor you old dog you," Jack said laughing loudly the others all snickering or giggling.

"Oi you lot, cut it out!" John cried indignant.

"Sorry, sorry," Rose said in-between her giggles.

"Well Wilf does seem to know how to pick his friends doesn't he," Jack smirked, and John sighed and shook his head.

**MINNIE: I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man.  
WILF: Just get off him. Leave him alone, will you?  
MINNIE; Hush, you old misery. Come on, Doctor. Give us a smile. That's it.  
OLIVER: Hold on. Did it flash?  
MINNIE: No, there's a blue light. Try again.  
OLIVER: I'm all fingers and thumbs.  
DOCTOR: I'm really kind of busy, you know.  
MINNIE: Oh, it wont take a tick. Keep smiling.  
Minnie gives the Doctor's bottom a squeeze.  
DOCTOR: Is that your hand, Minnie?  
MINNIE: Good boy. **

Jack and the others couldn't hold back their laughter at that!

"Oh now I really want to meet her!" Jack laughed, "and what was his name? Oliver wasn't it?"

It took awhile but eventually they all settled down enough to continue watching, Rose kissing Johns slightly reddened cheek in apology.

**[Street]**

**The minibus drops the Doctor and Wilf off.  
WILF: Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye.  
The minibus drives off with the rest of the Silver Cloak.  
WILF: Over here, come on.  
DOCTOR: What's so special about this place? We passed fifteen cafes on the way.  
WILF: Yeah. Afternoon. **

**[Cafe]**

**WILF: Oh, we had some good times, didn't we though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun. I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night.  
DOCTOR: Who are you?  
WILF: I'm Wilfred Mott.  
DOCTOR: No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours.  
WILF: Well, I'm just lucky I suppose.  
DOCTOR: No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us.  
WILF: What's so important about me?  
DOCTOR: Exactly. Why you? **

"Doctor!" Martha scolded, "Don't be so rude!"

**DOCTOR: I'm going to die.  
WILF: Well, so am I, one day.  
DOCTOR: Don't you dare.  
WILF: All right, I'll try not to.  
DOCTOR: But I was told. He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then…  
WILF: Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body.  
DOCTOR: I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead. **

"Doctor," Rose says sadly tears in her eyes as she hugs herself closer to John who has a sad distant look in his eyes; Jack just squeezes his shoulder.

**DOCTOR: What?  
Wilf has spotted Donna outside in the street getting out of her car.  
WILF: I'm sorry, but I had to. Look, can't you make her better?  
DOCTOR: Stop it.  
WILF: No, but you're so clever. Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello.  
DOCTOR: If she ever remembers me, her mind will burn, and she will die.  
They hear Donna speak to the traffic warden.  
DONNA: Don't you touch this car!  
DOCTOR: She's not changed.  
WILF: Nah. Oh, there he is.  
A man meets Donna.  
WILF: Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring.  
DOCTOR: Another wedding.  
WILF: Yeah.  
DOCTOR: Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot.  
WILF: No, it's… Temple-Noble.  
DOCTOR: Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?  
WILF: Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why.  
DOCTOR: She's got him.  
WILF: She's making do.  
DOCTOR: Aren't we all?  
WILF: Yeah, how about you? Who have you got now?  
DOCTOR: No one. Travelling alone. I thought it was better. But I did some things. It went wrong. I need...  
The Doctor starts crying. **

"Doctor," Rose and Martha whisper out sadly, they all had tears in their eyes, how could they not, seeing the Doctor like that, their Doctor, the Doctor they'd left all on his own.

They thought about how near the start they'd been pleased to see him doing so well but now they saw it all truly was a mask to hide how hurt and alone he was, how sad and broken and in need of a friend he was.

**WILF: Oh, my word. I'm sorry.  
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.  
WILF: Yeah, and you.  
DOCTOR: Look at us.  
WILF: But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. I mean, look. Wouldn't she make you laugh again? Good old Donna?  
Donna and Shaun drive away.  
WILF: Eh?**

**NARRATOR: And so it came to pass that the players took their final places, making ready the events that were to come. The madman sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve. While his saviour looked upon the wilderness, in the hope of changing his inevitable fate. Far away, the idiots and fools dreamt of a shining new future. A future now doomed to never happen. As Earth rolled onwards into night, the people of that world did sleep, and shiver, somehow knowing that dawn would bring only one thing. The final day. **

As the face of the man that had been narrating appeared on screen Jack and Rose felt the Doctor jump slightly before freezing as he stared at the screen in wide eyed horror.

"No," he whispered out shaking his head in denial.

"Doc?" Jack asked in concern wondering what had spooked the man so, "who is that?"

They all looked at John questioningly but he remained pale and shaking his head, "no it can't be,"

**[Abandoned warehouse]**

**Night. The Doctor walks towards the Master, who fires bolts of energy at him from his hands. He misses, and sets fires burning behind the Doctor. The third try hits the Doctor squarely in the chest, stopping him moving forward. Finally the energy stops and the Doctor falls to his knees. The Master catches him, then lets him fall to the ground.  
MASTER: I had estates. Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now. **

"You were friends?" Rose questioned softly looking up at John who had a sad distant look on his face.

"Oh yes, we were the best of friends back then," he said in a soft sad voice, "practically brothers," they stared at him, they couldn't imagine the two of them, so very different, ever being that close, then again they struggled to see the Master as an innocent child either, especially Martha, "probably why neither of us can ever really and truly bring ourselves to kill the other," John continued softly his eyes distant, "and he's had plenty of chances to really," Rose and Jack hugged him tightly because they knew, they knew that this time would be different, that this time only one of them would come out of this alive and they hope beyond all hope that it would be the Doctor even though they knew it would break his hearts to lose that remaining piece of his family.

**DOCTOR: All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed?  
MASTER: I am so hungry.  
DOCTOR: Your resurrection went wrong. That energy. Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself.  
MASTER: That human Christmas out there. They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat, and flesh, and grease, and juice, and baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot. It's so hot.  
DOCTOR: Stop it.  
MASTER: Sliced. Sliced. Sliced.  
DOCTOR: Stop it.  
MASTER: It's mine. It's mine. It's mine to eat and eat and eat.  
DOCTOR: Stop it. What if I ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me.  
MASTER: Oh yeah?  
DOCTOR: I've been told something is returning.  
MASTER: And here I am.  
DOCTOR: No, something more.  
MASTER: But it hurts.  
DOCTOR: I was told the end of time.  
MASTER: It hurts. Doctor, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?  
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.  
MASTER: Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen.  
We can hear the four beats of the start of the Doctor Who theme being played out by an iron bar on an oil drum somewhere.  
DOCTOR: I can't hear it.  
MASTER: Listen.  
The Master mind-melds with the Doctor. The Doctor hears the beats and pulls away.  
MASTER: What?  
DOCTOR: But  
MASTER: What!  
DOCTOR: I heard it. But there's no noise. There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?  
MASTER: It's real. It's real. It's real!  
The Master flies off and the Doctor runs after him.**

Jack glanced over at John and was suppressed to see mixed in with the hurt and sadness, anger, no more like a burning fury.

"Ah Doc, you okay?" Jack asked hesitantly and John turned to look at him the fury growing.

"No," he said simply but with a force of emotion behind it, "no I'm not, because that sound that beat," he spat, "Isn't natural, no, someone somewhere created that beat and placed it in the Masters head, they created the Master out of my friend and that is in no way okay by me!" he growled and Jacks eyes widened in realisation.

"They made the Master insane, drove him mad with that constant torment, all those things he's done…"

"But why? Why would anyone do such a thing? Who could be so cruel?" Martha asked shocked to find she felt some pity for the man who tormented her, her family and her friends.

"I guess we'll find out soon," Mickey said hesitantly a little unnerved by the look in the Doctors, in John's, eyes.

**[Derelict site]**

**MASTER: All these years, you thought I was mad. King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? What is it?  
A bright light shines down on the Master, and then a second one illuminates the Doctor. A pair of SAS types come down on ropes, grab the Master and inject him with something to knock him out.  
DOCTOR: Don't!  
Others fire their guns at the Doctor to make him stay back, and the Master is hoisted up into the helicopter. The Doctor runs.  
DOCTOR: Let him go!  
The Doctor is hit in the back.**

Rose gasped and clung tighter to John when Jack winced slightly.

"Gee Doc, you really do need someone to watch your back don't you," he commented lightly smirking, though the shadow lurking in his eyes said he wasn't taking it so lightly, even though they all knew the Doctor would be fine.

**[Nobles' home]**

**Wilf opens a present. It is a book - Fighting the Future, by Joshua Naismith.  
DONNA: Now then, steady on. It's never too early for margaritas, that's what I say. I forgot to get lemons so I used oranges instead. It's all fruit, same difference.  
Sylvia has opened her present, an item of clothing.  
SYLVIA: Oh, now that's lovely. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. Love from Donna. Did you keep the receipt?  
DONNA: Yes, I did. Come on, Gramps. You've been a right misery ever since you got up. Do you like it then, the book?  
WILF: Joshua Naismith? I mean, what'd you get me this for?  
DONNA: I don't know. I just saw it in the shop and thought of you. It just felt like the sort of thing you should have.  
SYLVIA: Oh, now look at that. That's from Charlie Morton. Isn't that rude?  
They laugh at a Christmas card.**

**[Gate room]**

**NAISMITH: If you would, Mister Danes.  
Danes the butler removes the gag from the Master. He is otherwise securely fastened to a large chair-like structure.**  
**MASTER: I'm starving.  
NAISMITH: You've my daughter to thank for this. It's all her idea. She heard rumours of Harold Saxon, his disciples, his return. It's the sort of thing she finds rather thrilling.  
ABIGAIL: And I was right. He's back. The very man we need, and he's here. Oh, this is going to be wonderful.**

"Oh great they're total wackos," Mickey muttered in a disgusted tone

**[Nobles' home]**

**SHAUN: Aye, aye. Here are the presents. I'm sorry, I couldn't afford much, but not for long, if President Obama ends the recession tonight. Come here.  
Shaun hugs Donna.  
WILF: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Keep it quiet, you lot, It's the Queen's Speech. Now come on, sit down. Show respect. Come on.  
SHAUN: Merry Christmas, Mister Mott.  
Shaun kisses Wilf.  
WILF: Thank you. Will you behave! You, honestly. All right now. Whoa, she's on, she's on. It's our sovereign.  
Wilf salutes the television, the broadcast slows down then the woman in white briefly appears.  
WILF: Eh?  
WOMAN [on TV]: Events are moving, Wilfred.  
WILF: Eh?  
WOMAN [on TV]: Faster than we thought.  
WILF: Oi, can you see that?  
DONNA: Frankly, I'd tell Her Majesty it's time for trouser suits.  
WILF: No, no, no, no. That's not the...  
WOMAN [on TV]: Only you can see. Only you stand at the heart of coincidence.  
WILF: Why, what have I done?  
WOMAN [on TV]: You're an old soldier, sir. Only you were too late. The war was won and passed you by.  
WILF: I did my duty.  
WOMAN [on TV]: You never killed a man.  
WILF: No, I didn't. No, I did not, no, but, don't say that like it's shameful.**

"To right Wilf, to right," John said with a sad fondness in his voice

**WOMAN [on TV]: The time will come when you must take arms.  
WILF: Who are you?  
WOMAN [on TV]: Tell the Doctor nothing of this. His life could still be saved, so long as you tell him nothing.  
Wilf goes to his bedroom and pulls an old suitcase out from under his bed. In a box, wrapped in a piece of cloth, is his old service revolver. Something is thrown against his window. Wilf looks out to see the Doctor returning to his Tardis.**

Smiles appeared around the room, they could never help but feel happy to see the Doctor even if it was just on a screen and they knew bad things were coming.

**[Outside the Nobles' home]**

**DOCTOR: I lost him. I was unconscious. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away.  
WILF: Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?  
DOCTOR: You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?  
WILF: Well, there was a...  
DOCTOR: What? What is it? Tell me.  
WILF: Well, it was. No, it's nothing.  
DOCTOR: Think-a, think-a, think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something.  
WILF: Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book.  
DOCTOR: What book?  
WILF: His name's Joshua Naismith.  
Wilf shows the book to the Doctor.  
DOCTOR: That's the man. I was shown him by the Ood.  
WILF: By the what?  
DOCTOR: By the Ood. **

"Doctor I think he's asking what an Ood is not what you said," Martha sighed in fond exasperation causing Jack to laugh and John shrugged.

"An Oods an Ood," he said pouting slightly and looked down at Rose for support but she just smiled and shook her head in amusement

**WILF: What's the Ood?  
DOCTOR: They're just the Ood. But it's all part of the convergence. Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The DoctorDonna.  
SYLVIA: Dad, what are you up to? You. But. Get out of here.  
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.  
SYLVIA: Merry Christmas. But she can't see you. What if she remembers?  
DONNA [OC]: Mum, where are those tweezers?  
SYLVIA: Go.  
DOCTOR: I'm going.  
WILF: Yeah, me too.  
SYLVIA: Oh no, you don't.  
DONNA : (at the back of the house) Mum? Gramps?  
SYLVIA: Dad, I'm warning you.  
WILF: Bye, see you later.  
DONNA: (at the back of the house) Bit old for hide and seek.  
SYLVIA: Stay right where you are.  
DOCTOR: You can't come with me.  
WILF: You're not leaving me with her.  
SYLVIA: Dad!  
DOCTOR: Fair enough. **

They all laughed at that, "What's with you and mothers huh?" Rose asked in-between her giggles and Martha grinned too.

"My mum hated him too," she said with a small grin causing John to frown at them and mutter something under his breath.

"Tough luck Doc," Jack chuckled.

"Oh shut up!" Doctor muttered back pouting.

**DONNA [OC]: Mum?  
SYLVIA: Just you listen to me. I forbid it. Get out of there!  
The Tardis dematerialises.  
SYLVIA: Doctor, bring my father back right now! Come back here! Come back here, I said! Come back!  
DONNA: Are you shouting at thin air?  
SYLVIA: Yes. Possibly, yes. **

They all laugh again even John grinned at this.

**[Tardis]**

**DOCTOR: Naismith. If I can track him down. Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?  
WILF: I thought it'd be cleaner.  
DOCTOR: Cleaner? I could take you back home right now. **

They all laugh again except John who frowns, "She's fine the way she is," he mumbles to himself pouting, and Rose just pats him on the shoulder

**WILF: Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?  
DOCTOR: I can't go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?  
WILF: Not a word.  
DOCTOR: Welcome aboard.  
WILF: Thank you. **

Martha just snorted slightly at that, "Is that why you keep us around? To make yourself feel smarter?" she asked in a joking tone, as they all knew deep down the real reason was far more then that.

John opened his mouth to reply but Rose beat him to it, "Before you go making ape insults mister, just remember that you're human now too," she said poking him in the chest and causing him to snap his mouth shut and get an odd look on his face as he thought about that.

**[Gate room]**

**Joshua and Abigail Naismith enter, followed by the Master in a strait-jacket.  
NAISMITH: Demonstrate.  
Electricity surges across the Gate.  
MASTER: Oh, that's not from Earth.  
NAISMITH: And neither are you. A perfect combination, don't you think?  
ROSSITER: Er, excuse me, sir. If I could check the basement? We're getting fluctuation on the power cords.  
NAISMITH: Of course.  
ROSSITER: Miss Addams, if you could bring the calibration statistics.  
The two scientists leave.**

"I wonder what they're up to," Jack muttered with a quirk of his lips

**[Basement]**

**ROSSITER: Who the hell is he? What if he finds out? An expert, they said. Well, what sort of expert? Who is he?  
ADDAMS: I don't know. According to the records, Harold Saxon was Prime Minister of this stupid country. I am choking in this thing. I'm sorry.  
Miss Addams presses her wristwatch and she transforms into a green skinned biped with spikes instead of hair.**

"Well at least it isn't a human skin suit," Rose muttered.

**ADDAMS: Oh, by the saint's, that's better. Oh, these people are so... flat.  
Rossiter transforms himself, too.  
ROSSITER: But what do we do? We were so close. We almost had it working.  
ADDAMS: What if this visitor is some sort of genius? Well, think about it. We're hijacking this project. Maybe we can use him too? Harold Saxon, or whatever he is, might be exactly what we need. **

"He's not what anyone needs," it was Martha's turn to mutter now, quietly enough so John wouldn't hear, she may have felt slightly sorry for the Master but she still didn't like him at all and didn't think she ever would.

**[Gate room]**

**NAISMITH: The Gate was found inside a spaceship buried at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was moved to an institute known as Torchwood, but when Torchwood fell, let's just say I acquired it. **

"Torchwood," John muttered quietly in a displeased tone.

**MASTER: I like you.  
NAISMITH: Thank you.  
MASTER: You'd taste great.  
NAISMITH: Mister Danes?  
DANES: The visitor will be given food.  
The footmen bring in a covered dish. It is an entire large roast chicken. The Master rips it to pieces and devours it without ceremony in triple quick time.  
NAISMITH: Anyway, the device came equipped with its own power supply. A Nuclear Bolt. One technician remains in charge of the feedback twenty four hours a day, and the power feeds through to the Gate, where it encourages some sort of cellular regeneration. Miss Collins was our test subject. She carried some burns as a result of an accident when she was a child, down her left side. If you could?  
Miss Collins steps forward and shows her left arm.  
NAISMITH: The Gate mended her. Thank you.  
MASTER: But what do you want it for?  
NAISMITH: We calculate that if this device can be fully repaired by your good self, it can restore the body forever. Hence it's given title. The Immortality Gate. Because that's what I want. Not for me, but for my daughter. I want her never to die. My gift to her. She will be immortal. **

"Whoa! Talk about a daughter complex!" Martha said, and the others snorted in agreement

"Like I said, wackos," Mickey added

**ABIGAIL: Abigail. It means bringer of joy.  
The Tardis materialises in the stable block. The Master smells it.  
MASTER: Better get to work.  
He uses the computer keyboard.**

"Seriously Boss, maybe you should take a shower," Mickey grinned cheekily

"Oi!" John scowled at him before running a hand through his hair, "besides it's not so much smell it's more... well you wouldn't understand the complexities of it, but let's just say that because Time Lords have a high physic ability we can sense one another to a certain extent, and the closer we are to each other and the better we know each other the stronger that is," he frowned sadly and added quieter, more to himself, "And there are few who know the Master or I better then each other,"

**[Stables]**

**WILF: We've moved. We've really moved!  
DOCTOR: You should stay here.  
WILF: Not bloody likely. **

"Does anyone agree to that?" Rose asked in amusement causing John to scowl and pout slightly which was answer enough.

**DOCTOR: And don't swear. Hold on.  
The Doctor points the key at the Tardis, which disappears.  
DOCTOR: Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. That's the last thing we need. **

"Your telling me," Martha shudders before frowning slightly at John, "You know you should probably use that feature more often, it could have saved yourself a lot of trouble,"

"The Old Girl doesn't like it, it means she misses out on everything, and I don't just travel for myself you know," John tells them sternly, "and besides if I did that, whoever I'm travelling with won't be able to get back in either, which is the more likely danger," he explained and they nodded in understanding, they didn't think they would have felt quite so safe on their adventures with the thought that they had no way to get back on the TARDIS without the Doctor.

**[Mansion grounds]**

**Wilf and the Doctor hide from a patrol.  
WILF: That book said he's a billionaire. He's got his own private army.  
DOCTOR: Down here.  
The Doctor opens a small door in an archway. **

"You always find a way in don't you Doc," Jack grins almost proudly.

**[Gate room]**

**Rossiter is back in human form.  
ROSSITER: Miss Addams, we're getting encouraging results from the ratio-foldback. Can you confirm? **

**[Basement]**

**ADDAMS: (also human) The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place. **

"A miracle? Not quite," Martha mutters.

**[Gate room]**

**ADDAMS [OC]: The shatterthreads have harmonised, the fibre links intensified **

**[Basement]**

**ADDAMS: And the multiple overshots have triplicated.  
DOCTOR: Nice Gate.  
WILF: Hello. Sorry.  
DOCTOR: Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place. **

"You really like the word Shimmer don't you?" Rose laughs along with the others.

John just looks down at her with a grin and says, "Shimmer,"

**ADDAMS: I'm sorry? What's a Shimmer?  
The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at her.  
DOCTOR: Shimmer.  
Addams turns green.  
WILF: Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus. **

"Haha, brilliant," Jack laughs and John gins too.

**ROSSITER [OC]: Miss Addams? **

**[Gate room]**

**ROSSITER: Miss Addams? If you'll just excuse me.  
Rossiter leaves.  
NAISMITH: Now, please don't imagine I'm a slave-driver. We can resume work on Boxing Day, Mister Saxon.  
MASTER: My name is the Master.  
The Master has completed his work. He presses enter and the lights dim. A wormhole develops inside the Gate.  
NAISMITH: Oh, excellent. Excellent! Mister Danes?  
DANES: The visitor will be restrained.  
MASTER: What? But I repaired it.  
NAISMITH: I'm not an idiot. Don't let him anywhere near that thing. **

"Not an idiot," Mickey snorted in disbelief.

**[Basement]**

**DOCTOR: He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?  
ROSSITER: What are you doing here?  
Without turning around, the Doctor points the screwdriver at Rossiter.  
DOCTOR: Shimmer!  
Rossiter turns green.  
DOCTOR: Now, tell me quickly, what's going on? The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there? **

"Skeletor," Jack snorted amused.

**[Gate room]**

**Danes locks the Master back into his strait jacket.  
NAISMITH: Your reputation precedes you, sir. I have no doubt you've laid traps. Perhaps explosives. A means of escape, or murder. But everything you've done to the Gate will be checked and double-checked before anyone stands inside. **

"Yeah except, unfortunately he's way smarter then you and is working with technology well beyond you so, yeah your screwed if the Doctor doesn't save you," Mickey spoke as if explaining things to a toddler and Martha, Rose and Jack all snorted and nodded in agreement.

**[Basement]**

**ROSSITER: But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational.  
DOCTOR: Who are you, though? I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red.  
ADDAMS: No, that's a Zocci.  
ROSSITER: We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different.  
ADDAMS: And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship.  
DOCTOR: But what does it do?  
ROSSITER: Well, it mends. It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better.  
DOCTOR: No, there's got to be more. Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal.  
WILF: So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?  
ADDAMS: More or less.  
WILF: Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?  
DOCTOR: Oh, good question. Why's it so big?  
ADDAMS: It doesn't just mend one person at a time.  
ROSSITER: That would be ridiculous. **

"Yeah Doc, ridiculous, what were you thinking," Jack mock scoffs at him, "And you're supposed to be a genius," he finishes with a mocking shake of his head.

**ADDAMS: It mends whole planets.  
DOCTOR: It does what?  
ADDAMS: It transmits the medical template across the entire population.  
The Doctor runs through the corridors.**

"Okay that sounds really not good," Rose says hesitantly.

**[Gate room]**

**NAISMITH: But it's time for the broadcast. The President's grand initiative. You might want to see this, sir. Proof that the human race can mend its own problems.  
AMN News [on TV]: And now, anticipation is rising as we go live to Washington. Here, on Christmas Day, the President has promised an instant and radical solution to the worldwide depression. Barack Obama will lead us all into a new age of prosperity. **

**[White House press room]**

**SPOKESWOMAN [OC]: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.  
OBAMA: I'd like to speak briefly about the state of our economy **

**[Gate room]**

**DOCTOR: Turn the Gate off right now! **

Jack sighs, "not one of your better plans Doc, you know they won't just listen to you,"

"Well they should," Rose and Martha mutter softly.

**DANES: At arms!  
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device.  
MASTER: Oh, like that was ever going to happen.  
The Master throws off the strait jacket and leaps over their heads on pillars of energy from his hands, into the Gate.  
MASTER: Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now.  
DOCTOR: Deactivate it. All of you, turn the whole thing off!  
MASTER: Bwahahahahahaha!  
NAISMITH: He's inside my head.  
DOCTOR: Get out of there!  
The Master's blast of energy knocks the Doctor down.  
WILF: Doctor! Doctor, there's, there's this face.  
DOCTOR: What is it? What can you see?  
WILF: Well, it's him. I can see him.  
AMN News [on TV]: There's something wrong. It seems to be affecting the President.  
The President of the United States has his face in his hands. The Doctor goes to the computer and tries to shut down the Gate.  
DOCTOR: I can't turn it off.  
MASTER: That's because I locked it, idiot.  
DOCTOR: Wilfred! Get inside. Get him out.  
The Doctor enters one of a pair of glass sided cubicles, and Wilfred swaps places with a technician in the other.  
DOCTOR: Just need to filter the levels.  
WILF: Oh, I can see again! He's gone.  
DOCTOR: Radiation shielding. Now press the button. Let me out.  
WILF: You what?  
DOCTOR: I can't get out until you press the button. That button there.  
Wilf does. Wilf's cubicle is now Locked and the Doctor's is Open.  
MASTER: Fifty seconds and counting.  
DOCTOR: To what?  
MASTER: Oh, you're going to love this. **

"Sorry Doc but I don't think you will," Jack says in a weak attempt to lighten the mood.

**[Basement]**

**ROSSITER: He was hiding the codes. He's extrapolated the Gate's power a million times over.  
ADDAMS: But it's not affecting us.  
ROSSITER: He's set the template for human! **

"That's bad, that's bad isn't it," Rose mutters worriedly.

**[Gate room]**

**Wilf's phone rings. He pulls the revolver out of his pocket instead, before quickly putting it back in and pulling out his phone.  
WILF: Hello? Oh, God. Donna?  
DONNA [OC]: Where are you? **

**[Nobles' home]**

**DONNA: It's Mum and Shaun. Something's wrong with them.  
SYLVIA: There's this face.  
WILF [OC]: But wait a minute. I mean, what about you? **

**[Gate room]**

**WILF: Can't you see anything? **

**[Nobles' home]**

**DONNA: I can see them. **

**[Gate room]**

**DONNA [OC]: That's bad enough.  
Wilf's phone beeps for a call waiting.  
WILF: Not now, Winston.  
WINSTON [OC]: Wilfred. **

**[Outside flats]**

**WINSTON: Those dreams. I can remember that face.  
YOUNG MAN: There's a face in my head.  
WINSTON: Wilfred, it's everyone! **

**[Gate room]**

**DOCTOR: What is it, hypnotism? Mind control. You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?  
MASTER: Oh, that's way too easy. No, no, no. They're not going to think like me, they're going to become me. And, zero!  
A blast of energy moves out from the Master and the Gate, and spreads across the entire planet. Everyone's face becomes blurred except for Donna and Wilf, and the Doctor of course.  
DOCTOR: You can't have.  
WILF: What is it? **

Everyone but John who believed he'd figured it out, were on the edge of their seats now as the waited to find out what was happening to the Earth this time, and more pointedly what the Doctor would have to face to fix it this time.

**[Nobles' home]**

**DONNA: But they've changed.  
Sylvia and Shaun are now both the Master.  
DONNA: Granddad, that's like, like the sort of thing that happened before.  
Donna remembers enemies from her adventures.  
DONNA: My head. Oh, my head! Oh, my head! **

"Oh god! Donna! Doctor, John, is she going to be okay? I mean you said, the other you said, that if she started to remember, she would die!" Martha asked him with a concerned and panicked look on her face

"I... I'm sure she'll be okay," John started out hesitantly, clearly worried about his friend, but offered Martha a small smile, "I'm sure he, the Doctor, left a failsafe to protect her in case something like this happened,"

Martha nodded though she and they others were still clearly concerned for their red haired friend

**[Gate room]**

**WILF: Doctor? She's starting to remember.  
Everyone's face resolves into the Master's.  
WILF: What is it? What have you done, you monster?  
MASTER: Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?  
NAISMITH-MASTER: Or to me?  
ABIGAIL-MASTER: Or to me?  
DANES-MASTER: Or to me?  
SECURITY-MASTER: Or to us?  
AMN NEWS-MASTER [on TV]: Breaking news. I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me! **

**[White House press room]**

**OBAMA-MASTER: I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!  
The audience of Master's applauds him.  
OBAMA-MASTER: Ooo, financial solution. Deleted. Ha ha! **

**[Gate room]**

**MASTER: The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race. Bwahahahahahaha! **

"Um Boss," Mickey began hesitantly, "when he says the entire human race... I mean this is just a while in the future, so I'm there somewhere, and Martha and Jack... um, did we...? I mean Donna stayed the same so... what about us? Please tell me I, we, didn't just become him!" Mickey finished in a rush and pointed to the paused screen.

Martha paled and looked rather sick at that realisation, because it was true everyone she knew, her whole family had just been transformed into their former tormentor!

Jacks eyes widened to, he really, really hoped he hadn't been changed, "Please tell me I haven't changed Doc," he begged slightly, "I mean, to go from this," he gestured to himself, "to that," he pointed to the screen and shuddered dramatically receiving a hit on the arm form John and small weak chuckles from the others which is what he'd been aiming for.

"Well, um," John began but Martha interrupted him with a slight scowl.

"The truth please," she told him sternly and John sighed before nodding.

"Donna would be the exception," he said softly, "though I'm not sure about you Jack," he said looking calculatingly at Jack who grinned cheekily back.

"Oh god," Martha breathed through her nose trying to settle her stomach and Mickey grimaced and scowled at the screen then turned to look at Rose and John.

"Guess you two will be lucky being in a parallel universe and all, you won't be changing," he said and Rose smiled weakly at that, I mean it sounded wrong to her to be happy to be in the parallel universe she had spent so much time trying to escape, but now she had John... she looked up at him and her smile grew.

"Yeah, I guess we are," she said and he grinned back down at her, until Jack coughed loudly.

"Alright lovebirds shall we continue?" he asked with a grin at them, "Or would you like some time alone?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Jack," John scowled at him though there was warmth in his eyes, and the feelings in the room had brightened slightly.

**NARRATOR [OC]: And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his greater role in events. For this was far more than humanity's end. **

**[Citadel]**

**NARRATOR: This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned. For Gallifrey.  
TIME LORDS: For Gallifrey!  
NARRATOR: For victory!  
TIME LORDS: For victory!  
NARRATOR: For the end of time itself!  
TIME LORDS: For the end of time itself! **

**TO BE CONTINUED**

They all gaped at the screen as it changed back to the 'menu', except for John who was very pale and who had his eyes squeezed shut.

"Doc are you..." Jack started but was interrupted by John leaping to his feet.

"Sorry, I... I need a moment," he said in a rush, before darting out of the room and through a door that hadn't previously been there, something they were confident of because when they had arrived one of the first things they had noted about the room was that there were no doors or windows.

"So that was...that was Gallifrey..." Martha broke the silence that had fallen when John had rushed out, "and other Time Lords," she added softly, imagining how that must hurt for John to see people he knew were dead, and not just dead but killed through his own actions.

"They were talking of coming back, that's good isn't it?" Rose asked hesitantly, because for some reason it didn't feel like it yet she longed for the Doctor to no longer be alone and no longer have to bear the weight of having killed his people and survived alone.

"Yeah, except that the whole 'For the end of time itself' cheer, that certainly doesn't fill me with such confidence," Jack muttered back sardonically, an amused twist to his lips but a dark worried look in his eyes as he glance towards the door John had fled through.

There was silence a moment longer before Mickey broke it this time, "Um, is it just me or was that door not there a moment ago...?"

"Not just you this time Mickey Mouse," Jack smirked at him getting a scowl in return.

"Oh shut up cupcake!" Mickey snapped though the playful banter was hidden there in his words.

"Oi, that's beefcake to you!" Jack grinned back mockingly.

Martha sighed and shook her head, "alright enough with the testosterone, we have more important matters," she said before standing and looking around, "like the fact that I kind of need the bathroom..." she had just finished saying that when another door appeared.

Exchanging startled glances Martha shrugged and made her way over cautiously before opening the door and sticking her head in.

"A bathroom?" Jack asked.

"Yep," Martha replied before entering and shutting the door behind her.

"Alright I want a way out of here," Jack said and looked around but no new doors appeared, "well it was worth a try," he shrugged at his two remaining friends, before frowning and looking at Rose, "What's the matter Rosie, you've been pretty quiet?"

Rose just shrugged, "Just worried about John and the Doctor I guess," she mumbled out shooting a worried look at the door John had disappeared through.

Before Jack or Mickey could reassure her however, a flash of light lit up the room and when it had vanished they saw a girl maybe slightly younger then Rose standing there blinking slightly in bemusement, before she noticed them.

"Oh, hello, who are you?" she asked smiling at them kindly though her posture changed to a slightly more defensive one, or rather one ready to run if needed.

"Hello, I'm Captain Jack Harkness ma'am," he said with a smirk but Rose just hit his arm and continued before he could.

"I'm Rose, Rose Tyler and that's Mickey Smith there," she smiled slightly at the girl imagining it must be quite scary to appear in an unknown place and not know anyone, "You know the Doctor right?" she questioned, because that was their theory as to why they were here after all.

The girls eyes lit up and she nodded quickly, her smile growing, "Yes is he here? Please, I've been looking for him," she said quickly in a hopeful voice, and Rose felt a twist in her gut because this girl reminded her of herself, she even had the blond hair, though she appeared prettier then Rose which didn't help the unpleasant twisty feeling in her gut at all.

"Not exactly," Rose said, sad to break the girls hopes, because she knew how that felt, though she was fighting against that jealous little voice in her head that was telling her that this girl had been her replacement, and though she wouldn't begrudge the future Doctor someone else, after all she now had John, she couldn't stand the thought that he had moved on beforehand and that her John might return to the room and know this girl and love her too...

"Come sit, and we'll explain best we can," Jack said smiling at her and cautiously she nodded and sat down in the armchair that had appeared at some point.

They told her about the room, how they were apparently here to watch 'episodes' of the Doctors life, and of John being the Doctors human duplicate so she wouldn't be shocked by that later, then they were about to ask her about herself when the bathroom door opened and Martha appeared only to freeze for a moment as she noticed their newest member.

"Jenny?" she asked her eyes widened in shock, before she smiled and rushed forward meeting Jenny who had risen from her chair, in a hug, "Oh Jenny we thought you were dead! Your father was so upset to lose you," Martha told the girl she was hugging, and Rose felt her stomach twist, if Martha knew the girl then so would John...

Just then the other door opened and John re-entered the room holding a tray, "well I seem to have found the kitchen or rather when I say I found... But I made us some tea, tea is good, helps get the synapses firing and all," he remarked in a happy voice as he came over to them not yet noticing their new addition, in fact it wasn't until he'd placed the tray on the small table that had appeared and turned to look at them that he saw her and froze slightly with widened eyes.

There was silence in the room yet again as everyone watched John and Jenny stare at each other before John broke it with a quiet choked sounding, "Jenny?"

That seemed to do it because suddenly Jenny was leaping forward into Johns waiting arms with a cry of "Daddy!"

"Oh, Jenny, I thought...I thought I had lost you!" John choked out as he hugged his little girl to him not noticing the shocked wide eyes and gaping mouths of the others.

"Daddy?" Jack choked out quietly still very much in shock, though not quite enough not to still feel relieved that he hadn't tried anything yet with the admittedly beautiful girl, because he just knew the Doctor and John would find a punishment worse than death, than a million deaths, for him should he have made any move on their daughter; yeah he could just see the Doctor being the overprotective type father, and he should know, he'd had more than a little practice picking them out.

Martha chuckled at them though she threw a fond smile towards the father-daughter pair, "Okay let me explain for you," she said mostly for Roses sake because she knew how hard this must be for the girl.

With the explanation done Rose was happy she hadn't acted inappropriately due to her now nonsense jealousy, and while they had been talking Jenny and John had been too. Jenny had decided that she would call this version of her father, papa, because she still wanted to find her other dad especially as when they got out of here her papa would be sealed in a parallel universe in which she couldn't reach; still he was still her father and she loved him even if he was a human form of himself.

"Right then," John said once both conversations were done, "Tea!" John grinned at them all, "Tea is good, in fact I was there when the first cup of tea was drunk, ah good old Emperor Shennong, he didn't quite believe me when I said he'd enjoy it so I had to sneak the leaves in," John grinned shaking his head, "but really drinking hot water on its own when you have a tea tree right there, and he was quite pleased with the result, even if he did think I was trying to poison him at first," the others just listened to his story fondly as they poured themselves some tea, Jenny seeming to find the tale most interesting but they supposed that was because this was a version of her father and she hadn't yet gotten used to hearing these tales, "that was around 2737BC," John told her informatively.

Jack shook his head in amusement at his old friend, "Drink your tea Doc, and I suppose we should tell Jenny where we are in the 'story' so far, so we can continue it to make sure poor Mickey and Martha become themselves again," Jack said slightly unwillingly as he didn't really want the gloomy mood back but he didn't think putting off the showing would help all that much and he did really want to see what would happen.

"Right," John said eyes darkening slightly but nodding and grabbing his tea, sitting back and letting Jack and Martha tell Jenny what had happened thus far with some input from Mickey and Rose occasionally, though he did smile slightly when he felt Rose take his hand.

Finally though, they were done and ready to watch the screen again with Jenny sitting beside Martha on the second couch. The screen menu thing slid down one landing on 'The End of Time Part 2'

... … … … … … … … …

A/N: Um not much to say here except please leave a review as to how you think I'm doing, I'm really curious as to know if I'm doing any good at keeping them all in character or not. I would also like to hear if you're liking the story, what you like, what you don't, what I can improve and most of all… what do you want to see in the future! What comment in which episode, or even just a certain episode you'd like them to watch, and remember it can be one of the past ones (though I don't know much about classic who, I am slowly filling in that gap in my whovian knowledge base so might consider having them watch one of the classic era episodes if people want…).

Anyway now I've given you something's to think about answering in a review, all or just one, or you could think up something totally different, or just tell me your favourite Doctor Who episode… a question I can't manage to think of an answer for at the moment…

Well have a nice day/night/morning/afternoon/evening, whatever, and I hope to catch you next chapter!


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